The Nazis and young people Quoted in Edexcel GCSE History B Schools History Project: Life in Germany by Steve Waugh, Pearson Education 2009,
p.74
'The Nazis used education as a method of indoctrinating the young with Nazi ideas, that is, teaching them to accept their views. This was achieved by controlling all aspects of education.'
p.78
'Membership of the Hitler Youth expanded from 5.4 million in 1936 to 8.0 million in 1939. Many young people enjoyed the exciting and interesting activities, such as camping and hiking. Some even enjoyed the military aspects of the youth movements, especially the uniforms and discipline. For others it gave a great sense of comradeship and of belonging to something that seemed powerful....
'However, at least 3 million youngsters had not joined the Hitler Youth by the end of 1938. Some of those who joined the Hitler Youth found the activities boring, especially the emphasis on military drilling and activities. Moreover, there is evidence that by the end of the 1930s the movement was experiencing a crisis. There was a shortage of adult youth leaders because of military conscription. Teachers were increasingly concerned about the effects that so much propaganda had on the young.'
quoted on p.79:
From Inside Hitler's Germany by B. Sax and D. Kuntz, 1992
'What National Socialist training produced, however, were duller and stupider, though healthier, individuals. By the 1930s, the authorities became increasingly aware of the fact that while students, no longer able to think for themselves, would therefore not resist the regime, they were incapable of either providing political leadership in the future or contributing the intellectual and technical skills necessary for running a modern industrial society.'
Youth and education
Notes from Nazism 1919-1945 volume 2: State, Economy and Society 1933-1939 A Documentary Reader edited by J. Noakes and G. Pridham, University of Exeter Press, 2000
Hitler, speaking at the Nuremberg Party Rally in September 1935
p. 223
‘…these boys join our organization at the age of ten and get a breath of fresh air for the first time, then, four years later, they move from the Jungvolk to the Hitler Youth and there we keep them for another four years. And then we are even less prepared to give them back into the hands of those who create our class and status barriers, rather we take them immediately into the Party, into the Labour Front, into the SA or into the SS, into the NSKK and so on. And if they are there for eighteen months or two years and have still not become real National Socialists, then they go into the Labour Service and are polished there for six or seven months, and all of this under a single symbol, the German spade. And if, after six or seven months, there are still remnants of class consciousness or pride in status, then the Wehrmacht will take over the further treatment for two years and when they return after two or four years then, to prevent them from slipping back into old habits again, we take them immediately into the SA, SS etc., and they will not be free again for the rest of their lives. And, if someone says to me – there will still be some left out; I reply: National Socialism is not at the end of its days but only at the beginning.’
p. 228
Vow of the Hitler Youth
You, Führer, are our commander!
We stand in your name.
The Reich is the object of our struggle,
It is the beginning and the Amen.
Your word is the heartbeat of our deeds;
Your faith builds cathedrals for us.
And even when death reaps the last harvest
The crown of the Reich never falls.
We are ready, your silent spell
Welds our ranks like iron,
Like a chain, man beside man,
Into a wall of loyalty around you.
You, Führer, are our commander!
We stand in your name.
The Reich is the object of our struggle,
It is the beginning and the Amen.
pp. 233-234
From the reminiscences of a Hitler Youth leader
‘What I liked about the HJ was the comradeship. I was full of enthusiasm when I joined the Jungvolk at the age of ten. What boy isn’t fired by being presented with high ideals such as comradeship, loyalty and honour. I can still remember how deeply moved I was when we learned the cub mottoes: “Jungvolk boys are hard, they can keep a secret, they are loyal; Jungvolk boys are comrades; the highest value for a Jungvolk boy is honour. They seemed to me to be holy…
‘Later, however, when I became a leader in the Jungvolk the negative aspects became very obvious. I found the compulsion and the requirement of absolute obedience unpleasant. I appreciated that there must be order and discipline in such a large group of boys, but it was exaggerated. It was preferred that people should not have a will of their own and should totally subordinate themselves… The HJ was interfering everywhere in people’s private lives. If one had private interests apart from the HJ people looked askance.’
p. 235
The Hitler Youth’s success in indoctrinating young people in Nazi ideology as such was probably limited. Above all, the quality of its leadership was generally poor, particularly in the HJ section proper, because military and labour service removed many potential leaders, and middle class pupils in the senior forms of secondary schools often proved unsuitable leaders of working class youths who were already in employment. Nevertheless, the HJ almost certainly reinforced certain values and stereotypes already influential in German culture – notably, the glorification of military or quasi-military virtues such as duty, obedience, honour, physical courage, endurance, strength, ruthlessness in achieving goals, and contempt for such values as peace, gentleness, moderation, intellect, moral courage, sensibility, and humanity. Certainly many parents and teachers complained about the brutalizing effects of the HJ on young people.’
p. 249
‘What evidence there is suggests that many students came to terms with the new regime relatively easily, fired by the nationalist rhetoric, blinded by the initial political and military successes of the regime and dazzled by the prospects of brilliant careers in a greater Germany. By the end of the 1930s, however, a growing number of students were coming to resent the regimentation, the pressures to conform, the anti-intellectual climate, the crudity of the regime’s style and its moral duplicity.’
p. 250
As Noakes and Pridham itemize for many professions and industries, the Nazis process of coordination proceeded by purging a profession of unsuitable elements. This happened with university teachers too, for example:
‘Eighteen per cent of those engaged in the natural sciences were dismissed – 26 per cent in Physics, 13 per cent in Chemistry. Twenty past of future Nobel prizewinners were dismissed or resigned, all but one of whom emigrated. Eleven of these were physicists, including Einstein.’
Quoted in Edexcel GCSE History B Schools History Project: Life in Germany by Steve Waugh, Pearson Education 2009,
p.74
'The Nazis used education as a method of indoctrinating the young with Nazi ideas, that is, teaching them to accept their views. This was achieved by controlling all aspects of education.'
p.78
'Membership of the Hitler Youth expanded from 5.4 million in 1936 to 8.0 million in 1939. Many young people enjoyed the exciting and interesting activities, such as camping and hiking. Some even enjoyed the military aspects of the youth movements, especially the uniforms and discipline. For others it gave a great sense of comradeship and of belonging to something that seemed powerful....
'However, at least 3 million youngsters had not joined the Hitler Youth by the end of 1938. Some of those who joined the Hitler Youth found the activities boring, especially the emphasis on military drilling and activities. Moreover, there is evidence that by the end of the 1930s the movement was experiencing a crisis. There was a shortage of adult youth leaders because of military conscription. Teachers were increasingly concerned about the effects that so much propaganda had on the young.'
quoted on p.79:
From Inside Hitler's Germany by B. Sax and D. Kuntz, 1992
'What National Socialist training produced, however, were duller and stupider, though healthier, individuals. By the 1930s, the authorities became increasingly aware of the fact that while students, no longer able to think for themselves, would therefore not resist the regime, they were incapable of either providing political leadership in the future or contributing the intellectual and technical skills necessary for running a modern industrial society.'
Youth and education
Notes from Nazism 1919-1945 volume 2: State, Economy and Society 1933-1939 A Documentary Reader edited by J. Noakes and G. Pridham, University of Exeter Press, 2000
Hitler, speaking at the Nuremberg Party Rally in September 1935
p. 223
‘…these boys join our organization at the age of ten and get a breath of fresh air for the first time, then, four years later, they move from the Jungvolk to the Hitler Youth and there we keep them for another four years. And then we are even less prepared to give them back into the hands of those who create our class and status barriers, rather we take them immediately into the Party, into the Labour Front, into the SA or into the SS, into the NSKK and so on. And if they are there for eighteen months or two years and have still not become real National Socialists, then they go into the Labour Service and are polished there for six or seven months, and all of this under a single symbol, the German spade. And if, after six or seven months, there are still remnants of class consciousness or pride in status, then the Wehrmacht will take over the further treatment for two years and when they return after two or four years then, to prevent them from slipping back into old habits again, we take them immediately into the SA, SS etc., and they will not be free again for the rest of their lives. And, if someone says to me – there will still be some left out; I reply: National Socialism is not at the end of its days but only at the beginning.’
p. 228
Vow of the Hitler Youth
You, Führer, are our commander!
We stand in your name.
The Reich is the object of our struggle,
It is the beginning and the Amen.
Your word is the heartbeat of our deeds;
Your faith builds cathedrals for us.
And even when death reaps the last harvest
The crown of the Reich never falls.
We are ready, your silent spell
Welds our ranks like iron,
Like a chain, man beside man,
Into a wall of loyalty around you.
You, Führer, are our commander!
We stand in your name.
The Reich is the object of our struggle,
It is the beginning and the Amen.
pp. 233-234
From the reminiscences of a Hitler Youth leader
‘What I liked about the HJ was the comradeship. I was full of enthusiasm when I joined the Jungvolk at the age of ten. What boy isn’t fired by being presented with high ideals such as comradeship, loyalty and honour. I can still remember how deeply moved I was when we learned the cub mottoes: “Jungvolk boys are hard, they can keep a secret, they are loyal; Jungvolk boys are comrades; the highest value for a Jungvolk boy is honour. They seemed to me to be holy…
‘Later, however, when I became a leader in the Jungvolk the negative aspects became very obvious. I found the compulsion and the requirement of absolute obedience unpleasant. I appreciated that there must be order and discipline in such a large group of boys, but it was exaggerated. It was preferred that people should not have a will of their own and should totally subordinate themselves… The HJ was interfering everywhere in people’s private lives. If one had private interests apart from the HJ people looked askance.’
p. 235
The Hitler Youth’s success in indoctrinating young people in Nazi ideology as such was probably limited. Above all, the quality of its leadership was generally poor, particularly in the HJ section proper, because military and labour service removed many potential leaders, and middle class pupils in the senior forms of secondary schools often proved unsuitable leaders of working class youths who were already in employment. Nevertheless, the HJ almost certainly reinforced certain values and stereotypes already influential in German culture – notably, the glorification of military or quasi-military virtues such as duty, obedience, honour, physical courage, endurance, strength, ruthlessness in achieving goals, and contempt for such values as peace, gentleness, moderation, intellect, moral courage, sensibility, and humanity. Certainly many parents and teachers complained about the brutalizing effects of the HJ on young people.’
p. 249
‘What evidence there is suggests that many students came to terms with the new regime relatively easily, fired by the nationalist rhetoric, blinded by the initial political and military successes of the regime and dazzled by the prospects of brilliant careers in a greater Germany. By the end of the 1930s, however, a growing number of students were coming to resent the regimentation, the pressures to conform, the anti-intellectual climate, the crudity of the regime’s style and its moral duplicity.’
p. 250
As Noakes and Pridham itemize for many professions and industries, the Nazis process of coordination proceeded by purging a profession of unsuitable elements. This happened with university teachers too, for example:
‘Eighteen per cent of those engaged in the natural sciences were dismissed – 26 per cent in Physics, 13 per cent in Chemistry. Twenty past of future Nobel prizewinners were dismissed or resigned, all but one of whom emigrated. Eleven of these were physicists, including Einstein.’